Pune: Posing as Cyber Cell Officers, Trio Scams Pimpri Doctor of Rs 23 Lakh
Reported By Varad Bhatkhande
Pimpri Chinchwad, 2nd November 2024: By exploiting the fear of a human trafficking case and posing as an officer from the Cyber Cell, a female doctor was duped of almost Rs 23 lakh in Pimpri Chinchwad. A case has been registered against three individuals, all of whom claimed to represent different government law enforcement agencies. This incident occurred last month in the Pimpri area.
The doctor, who practices at Dr D. Y. Patil Medical College, Hospital & Research Centre in Pimpri, filed a complaint with the newly formed Sant Tukaram Nagar Police Station. The accused are identified as Sumit Singh, who claimed to be from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI); Rakesh Kumar, who claimed to be a police sub-inspector in the Cyber Cell; and Mohit Raina, who claimed to be an officer of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Charges against them include Sections 318 (4) (cheating) and 3 (5) (acts done by several individuals in furtherance of common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), as well as relevant sections of the Information Technology Act of 2000.
According to police reports, the complainant received a call from an unknown person on Telegram. When she answered, the man claimed to be speaking from TRAI, New Delhi, and informed her that her phone number was registered with them, and a First Information Report (FIR) had been filed against her. He provided her with the FIR number and stated that the charges included human trafficking and child kidnapping, adding that he would connect her to the Cyber Cell of Delhi Police.
During the call, he instilled fear and threatened her with arrest, after which another man, claiming to be a CBI officer, also spoke to her. Fearing for her safety, the doctor transferred Rs 22,85,000 to the accused via Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS). Realizing something was amiss after the transfer, she rushed to the police. Senior Police Inspector Gorakh Kumbhar, in charge of the Sant Tukaram Nagar Police Station, is investigating the matter further.
